STRASBOURG, France (AP) — President Barack Obama says NATO is committed to strengthening Pakistan's ability to meet the needs of its people.

He says that's key to Pakistan's struggles against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

At the conclusion of the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, Obama told reporters that his counterparts put NATO's "stamp of approval" on his strategy for the region. He said the U.S. and its allies would put more money into Pakistan to provide help beyond the military fight.

The president was asked if he had a message for al-Qaida terrorists who are hiding out in the border region with Afghanistan. Obama said NATO is unified, strong and will not be worn down by the struggle.

You hit the nail on the head....but hey apparently they need F-16's and Diesel-Electric submarines to fight the Taliban. I guess Obama will not learn until thing really take a turn for the worse. I also have to point out that so far, his foreign policy in regards to Asia has been extremely short sighted. Then again, this is the American philosophy isn't it? It started with Korea in the 1950s', then Vietnam in the 60's and 70's and then the Mujaheddin in the 80's and now the Taliban.

USA has done everything wrong in this war, not one objective has been reached and Pakistan is getting rewarded for fueling the insurgency, meanwhile Osama Bin laden is resting comfortably in Pakistan the original reason for this war.

I'm sure if this trend continues, we will see President Barak Hussain Obama is bringing a resolution to Senate, that 'Pakistan needs advanced N-Weapons to Fight against Terror. So USA shall give Advanced N-Weapon Technology to Pakistan.'

Rhetoric! Obama's medium-long term stratagem for the region and those that occupy it has not changed from those of his predecessors (it was never intended to). It is simply more fancifully embellished and publicly appeasing, particularly with respect to the Muslim world. Meanwhile...

Pakistan aid bill in US Congress delayed till late April

'Pakistan Times' Monitoring Desk
April 3, 2009

WASHINGTON (US): The US Congress likely will not complete legislation tripling US non-military assistance to Pakistan before late April at the earliest, a congressional aide said Wednesday.

Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Richard Lugar, the senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were expected shortly to introduce their plan for boosting aid to the nuclear-armed US ally by 7.5 billion dollars over the next five years.

Both senators have described the package as urgent, but it could be weeks before the Senate and House of Representatives send US President Barack Obama legislation he can sign into law, the aide said on condition of anonymity.

The official spoke to reporters on condition that he not be named and that he not be directly quoted.

The legislation would first have to clear Kerry's panel, which would likely not happen until after a two-week congressional recess due to start April 6, then get through the full Senate.

The House of Representatives would have to pass companion legislation, after which the two chambers would have to reconcile their versions to send a compromise to Obama, a process that could drag into May or later, the aide said.

Recap

An earlier report had said that the US State Department will lobby Congress for new funds to strengthen Pakistan’s fledgling democracy to support its fight against terrorism as part of President Barack Obama’s broader effort to stabilize the region, according to a top U.S. official here Tuesday.

Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, said in an interview Tuesday the State Department will ask for more economic and development assistance for the region.
“We are asking the Congress for more resources for economic assistance and development assistance for Afghanistan. We are making a very substantial request to the Congress for Pakistan,” Holbrooke told the National Public Radio from the Hague.

Holbrooke, who is in the Dutch capital as part of the U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said the administration backs a measure sponsored in the House by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

and Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and in the Senate by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that would create economic opportunity zones along the tumultuous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Another bill, sponsored by House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and the top two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senators. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), would triple aid headed for Pakistan to $ 1.5 billion annually for five years.

“We are making a very substantial request to the Congress on (assistance for) Pakistan, we are backing vigorously a bill in the Senate and the House to triple foreign assistance to Pakistan, we are supporting the bills on the opportunity zones along the border with Pakistan.”

Some U.S. officials have indicated the aid for the region may have some strings attached to it. Holbrooke, however, emphasized that the urgency to provide such assistance in the face of al-Qaeda threat.

“We are putting very heavy emphasis on the simplest of facts. Al Qaeda is still around,” in the region, Holbrooke said, claiming that it is trying to plan new attacks on the United States or Europe or other countries fighting in Afghanistan.

The U.S. diplomat said the Pakistani leaders he met Tuesday at the Hague, including Foreign Minister Shah Maemood Qureshi have said Islamabad is very serious in its resolve to get rid of the terrorist threat.

WASHINGTON-Refusal to provide additional money for upgrading Pakistan’s ageing F-16s jets is one of the several benchmarks the US Congress is moving to impose for providing the Pak govt with US military assistance, a leading US newspaper reported on Saturday.

The Washington Post said, ‘the proposed restrictions, introduced in House legislation on Thursday, have made both the White House and the Pak govt uneasy’. Pak Ambassador to US, Hussain Haqqani, says he would lobby US lawmakers to address the proposed restrictions on assistance in the measure.

‘At the same time’, Haqqani was quoted as saying by the Post, ‘it might be prudent not to restrict security assistance. Because Pakistan’s Armed forces will be the spearhead in the actual fight with the terrorists’.

The Pakistan Enduring Assistance Cooperation Enhancement (PEACE) act of 2009, or PEACE act of 2009 as it is known, would set up a programme to monitor Pakistani progress in a number of areas, including defeating
extremists and protecting human rights, and require Obama to provide specifics underlying his own assessments.

‘It would also prohibit additional US spending on Pakistan’s F-16 jet fighter fleet, which the Bush administration agreed to upgrade’, the Post said. ‘Lawmakers have argued that the planes are part of Pakistan’s defence
strategy against neighbouring India but that they have little use in counterinsurgency efforts against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces’.

The bill says, among other elements, that the US expects Pakistan ‘not to support any person or group that conducts violence, sabotage, or other activities meant to instil fear or terror in India’, according to Press reports.

LAHORE: The United States Congress is looking to enforce benchmarks that the Pakistani government must meet to qualify for billions in US military assistance in the war against terror, the Washington Post said on Saturday. The bill sponsored by the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman would limit the kinds of equipment Pakistan’s military could receive and the ways in which it could be used, and require regular audits and presidential certification of counterinsurgency progress.

It would also set up a programme to monitor Pakistani progress in a number of areas, including defeating extremists and protecting human rights, and would also prohibit additional US spending on Pakistan’s F-16 jet fighter fleet. But the White House and US military commanders are looking to set their own standards. “I would say we are still in the process of developing sort of strategic-level metrics and benchmarks” for both Pakistan and Afghanistan, Defence Undersecretary Michelle Flournoy told Congress on Thursday. Lawmakers would be consulted, Flournoy said, and the administration hoped “to be able to bring those forward to you in the not-too-distant future”. daily times monitor

And for Pakistan, an even more worrying development, especially with Mr.10% - as he is not so affectionately called - at the helm:

Aid to Pak through elected govt, not army: US panel

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Berman’s bill to monitor counter-terrorism

A top US Congressman has introduced legislation in the Congress that seeks to triple economic aid to Pakistan, establishes a democracy fund and boosts military aid intended for use in the fight against Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Unlike in the past, however, this bill includes rigorous auditing to ensure that US taxpayers’ money is “truly benefiting the Pakistani people.”

New Delhi can take solace from a key condition included in California Democratic Congressman Howard Berman's bill-it requires that the vast majority of military assistance be focused on critical counter-terrorism efforts, to help Pakistan disrupt and defeat Al-Qaida and insurgent elements. Indian officials have in the past expressed concern that US weaponry provided to Pakistan will be deployed along the India border.

Berman’s office said the bill requires that all military assistance flow through the democratically elected government of Pakistan and not the military. Much of the billions of dollars in US aid provided to Gen Pervez Musharraf’s administration was unaccounted for leading to stricter conditions reflected in Berman's bill.

The legislation establishes conditions on military assistance, including a requirement that the government of Pakistan has demonstrated a sustained commitment to combating terrorist groups and made progress towards that end. “This bill has one essential purpose: to strengthen our relationship with Pakistan,” Berman said. “Our commitment to Pakistan’s political stability and economic development is matched only by our sense of urgency in ensuring that Pakistan has the right tools to protect its people, secure its borders and intensify its operations against extremist elements.”

In a sign of the Pakistani government's unease with tough oversight and conditions, Pakistan's ambassador in Washington, Husain Haqqani, told the Washington Post, “it might be prudent not to restrict security assistance. Because Pakistan's armed forces will be the spearhead in the actual fight with the terrorists.”

The Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act, or the PEACE Act, triples US economic assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, with a particular emphasis on strengthening democratic institutions, promoting economic development and improving Pakistan’s education system. The bill (H.R. 1886) also establishes a permanent Pakistan Democracy and Prosperity Fund, which its sponsor notes demonstrates America’s long-term commitment to Pakistan.

Introducing the bill on Thursday night, Mr. Berman said: “The bill was drafted with a clear understanding that we need to create a long-term strategic partnership with Pakistan - one that transcends our mutual counterinsurgency and counterterrorism goals, and speaks to the needs of average Pakistani citizens.”

In an interview with Afghan TV, Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates was asked what the US could do to push Pakistan to deliver in the war against Al-Qaida and its allies. “What we are doing is making clear to them that we are prepared to be a long-term ally and partner of Pakistan, that we will help them deal with their security problems,” Gates said, adding, “We're prepared to provide gear and training to enhance their counterinsurgency capabilities there in the western part of the country.”

Asked about continuing links between the ISI and Taliban, Gates conceded that the ISI's contacts with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Haqqani network and others are “a real concern to us, and we have made these concerns known directly to the Pakistanis. And we hope that they will take action to put an end to it.”

In an indication that the US is worried about the truce struck by the Pakistani government in Swat Valley and an acknowledgement that such agreements had failed in the past, Gates said these had led to the increase in the number of extremists coming across the border into Afghanistan. “They no longer had to worry about Pakistani troops because of the deals that were made under President Musharraf,” said Gates, who also served as defence secretary in the administration of President George W. Bush, who provided unstinting support to Pervez Musharraf while the general was in power.

Gates said the Pakistani government “is coming to understand that what is going on in western Pakistan is as great a danger to the government in Islamabad as it is to Afghanistan.”

Gates said that Pakistan is coming to understand that what was going on in western Pakistan is a great danger to the government as it is to Pakistan, even an illiterate Common Person of Pakistan knows this, now this logic is not only ridiculous but also a lame excuse, to support its theory to arm Pakistan by any means.

Pakistan Democracy and Prosperity Fund, this fund will be a biggest joke as the Fund in Iraq is. What is a Democracy fund, does building Democracy needs Fund ? The US tries to change the definition of Democracy by its own and that will be dictated by the USA's own term.

Sure, we will see more flow of Fund for so called 'Democracy Building' .

“truly benefiting the Pakistani people.”

Click to expand...

Has this happened before, did the taxpayer's hard earned money really benefited Iraqi People ? Leave Iraq alone, did in past ever Pakistani people benefited in this way?

Everything Obama is saying is horseshit...please excuse the language. He says he is doing all of this in a vain attempt to "stop" Pakistan from falling into complete anarchy, but the real reason is Afghanistan. That is he needs Pakistan not to fall into the Taliban's hands completely because the US still has to supply its troops there and Pakistan remains the best option to get that material through.
Another reason is to possibly curb China's involvement within Pakistan...I am guessing Obama wants to limit Pakistan's dependence on China and so as to keep the democratic govt. in Pakistan happy, he is supplying them with all sorts of goodies. Now, personally I think that this is all gonna blow up on the US's face and Pakistan is going to end up doing down the drain regardless of what the US does, but hey I guess time will tell. Regardless, I am very disappointed in Obama